Root plow



I Oct. 26, 1954 s JESSUP 2,692,544

ROOT PLOW Filed May 23, 1949 2 SheetsSheet l 56 64 Inventor Thomas S.Jessup lam paws; fiM

Oct. 26, 1954 T. s. JESSUP 2,692,544

' I ROOT PLOW Filed May 23, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Thomas 5 Jessup awnWave; 29%

Patented Oct. 26, 1954 FED STATES ATE'NT OFFICE ROOT PLOW Thomas S. Jessup, Arcadia, Fla., assignor to'Fleco "Corporation, a corporation ofFlorida Application 'May 23, 1949, Serial No. 94,828

1 Claim. (01. 97 226.1) .2

This invention relates to a root plow and more vertically, properly toposition them the right particularly to a plow of the typeemployed fordistance beneath the surfacebeing treated.

clearing land infested with plant life having Still other featuresinclude 'retainingtheharcreeping caudices. In certain-areas of thecounrow disks at an angle to the direction of travel try, the ground 18infested with growths of the of the plow which will best regulatethedepth type having creeping 'caudices which lie along to which thedivergent plow blades enter the or close to the surface of the groundand 'proearth.

ject roots into the ground so that-such caudices In the drawings:

become anchored very firmly and are extremely Figure 1 is a top planview of a rootplow emresistant to displacement by ordinary means.bodying the features of this invention;

Where such growths are permitted to grow un- Figure 2 is a longitudinalsectional view'taken hampered, the caudices criss-cross one anothersubstantially along the line Z-Z of Figure 1; and form a veritable'network adjacent'the sur- Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view takenface of the ground which not only chokes out substantially along theline 3-3 of Figure '2; other plant life but offers agreat deal ofresistand ance to its removal by ordinary methods. Figure 4 is aperspective view of the root plow Various types of root plows have beenproillustrated in Figure 1 with the harrow disks posed, such as thosedisclosed in Patents omitted.

1,142,503; 1,143,204; 1,578,931and 2,230,850, and I In the preferredembodiment of the invention while such plows have in a measure servedtheir I employ a conventional heavy duty plowing harpurpose, owing tothe fact that no means is prorow designated generally ID of atypecommonly when rough surfaces or obstacles are encounclevis M is a crossbar 16 which in the present tered. form of the invention comprises achannel mem- The primary object of this invention is to ber, with theflanges thereof turned upwardly. assist in maintaining the plow bladesat the A vertically extending pivot l8 projects through palmetto and thelike. ventional inverted U-shaped yoke 20 in'which Another object is toloosen and break up the the axle shafts 22 are mounted. A group of soilfrom which the caudices have been severed harrow disks 2 3 are mountedfor rotation on to expose the root growth and facilitate its rapid eachaxle shaft 22, and the yokes 2b are arremoval from the soil. ranged toswivel about the ax es of the pivot The above and other objects may beattained bolts is into various positions in horizontal arcs by employingthis invention which embodies which lie concentric about the axes of thepivot among its features a guide blade, a pair of horibolts. Extendingoutwardly from each yoke 20 at the convergent ends of the convergingblades, between the clevis Hi and the cross bar I6. means connected tothe bladesfor advancing Blocks 3i) slide on draw bar l2 and'the boltsmeans for rotation about horizontal axes behind the land being treated.As previously explained,

Other features include means carried by the ponent of this invention,the specific type of disk harrow disks for adjusting the convergentblades harrow used may vary so long as its function in connection withthis invention is not in any way impaired.

In carrying my invention into practice I attach to a harrow of the typejust described a substantially V-shaped frame 32, the divergent end ofwhich is coupled in any convenient manner to the cross beam 16 adjacentopposite ends thereof, while the apex of the frame 32 is disposed abovethe draw bar 12 near the end carrying the clevis 14. The frame 32 isprovided intermediate its ends with transversely extending cross bars34, and extending rearwardly from the apex of the V-shaped frame 32 inspaced parallel relation to the draw bar I2 is a secondary draw bar 36which lies in vertically spaced parallel relation to the draw bar l2.Fixed to opposite side edges of the draw bars l2 and 36 arelongitudinally spaced pairs of guide plates 36 and 40, and mounted forvertically sliding movement on the draw bars l2 and 36 adjacent theguide plates 38 and 40 respectively are inverted U-shaped yokes 42 andM, the legs of which straddle the draw bars as will be readilyunderstood upon reference to Figure 4. Threadedly entering the upperends of the inverted U- shaped yokes 62 and 44 respectively areadjusting screws 96 and 40 the lower ends of which rest on the top faceof the upper draw bar 36 in order adjustably to support the yokes 62 and44 thereon. The upper ends of the screws 46 and 48 are provided withcross handles 50 by which they may be turned to raise or lower theirrespective yokes. Secured in any suitable manner to the lower ends ofthe legs of the yokes 42 and 44 on each side of the longitudinal axis ofthe plow are supporting bars 52 and 54 respectively between which issecured in any suitable manner a vertical guide blade 56, and detachablycoupled as by bolts 58 to the supporting bars 52 and 54 adjacent theends thereof nearest the clevis i6 is a vertically disposed caudexcutting blade 69. Fixed to the lower edge of the guide blade 56 is atriangular-shaped horizontally disposed plate 62 to opposite side edgesof which are detachably connected in any conventional manner horizontalroot severing blades 64 which converge adjacent the rear edge of theblade 66 and are provided along their outer edges with sharpened cuttingedges. The forward convergent ends of the blades 66 are locatedsubstantially directly below the apex of the frame 32.

In use the plow is coupled to any tion vehicle by means of the clevis M-so that as the traction vehicle advances, the blade 60 encounteringtransversely extending caudices will sever them while the blades 64 willtravel closely beneath the under sides of the caudices and sever themfrom any roots that they may have put out. In this way the matting ofthe caudices does not present a serious obstacle to the removal of themfrom the ground, and the severing of the roots from the caudices enablesthem to be easily and quickly removed from the surface being treated. Asthe severing of the caudices and the severing of the roots from thecaudices progresses, it is obvious that the disks 24 will cooperate withthe blade 56 in maintaining the blades at the proper depth below thesurface of the ground and in holding the course of the plow. Obviously,by adjusting the screws 46 and 48, the blades 56, 60

'ably carried by 4 and 64 may be tilted to various angles with relationto the draw bars l2 and 36 so that where conditions demand theconvergent ends of the blades 64 may be caused to enter the earth bytilting the forward end of the blade 56 downwardly. Owing to the angularengagement of the disks 24 with the surface being traversed, it isobvious that a certain amount of downward drag may be imparted to thedraw bars [2 and 36 in order to aid in holding the blades 60 and 64 atthe proper depth.

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferredembodiment of this invention it is to be understood that minor changesin the details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts maybe resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention as claimed.

Having described the invention, claimed as new is:

In a root plow of the type employed for clearing land infested withplant life having creeping caudices, said root plow comprising asupporting frame including an elongated drawbar, longitudinally spacedhangers carried by said drawbar, said hangers each including a dependingyoke including an upper central portion and depending legs, an adjustingscrew threadedly engaged with said upper central portion, said screwbeing rocksaid drawbar, said yoke straddling said drawbar with said legshaving lower ends depending below said drawbar on opposite sidesthereof, a longitudinally extending, vertically disposed guide bladedisposed in vertical alignment with said drawbar, means securing saidlower ends of the legs of the yokes to opposite sides of said guideblade in supporting relation, said guide blade having a lower edge, aflat, generally triangular guide plate secured to the lower edge of saidguide blade normal normal to the plane of said guide blade, said guideplate having rearwardly diverging edge portions, said rearwardlydiverging edge portions sloping slightly outwardly and downwardly,rearwardly diverging root severing blades carried by said rearwardlydiverging edge portions and forming outwardly directed extensionsthereof, said root severing blades intersecting in an apex, a cauclexcutting blade carried at a forward end of said guide blade in alignmenttherewith, said caudex cuttin blade being disposed in advance of saidapex, said guide blade, said guide plate, said rooting severing bladesand. said caudex cutting blade being vertically adjustable as a unitthrough the adjustable positioning of said yokes by said screws.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS whatis Number Name Date 534,266 Ivins et a1 Feb. 19, 1895 847,036 WilliamsMar. 12, 1907 1,072,455 Hendricks Sept. 9, 1913 1,169,127 Craddock Jan.25, 1916 1,459,256 Ramirez June 19, 1923 1,605,705 Burkha-lter Nov. 2,1926 1,689,452 Phillips Oct. 30, 1928 1,949,059 LeTourneau Feb. 27, 19342,337,777 Seaholrn Dec. 28, 1943 2,385,637 Mitchell et al. Sept. 25,1945

